@MarDixonPassionate about culture. Champion for the next generation of Cultural visitors. Defender of Libraries. Digital, Wearable Tech Enthusiast. Sharing knowledge. Troublemaker and/or advocate, depending on what you need.

A (digital) Literacy blog (e-readers, e-books & #socialmedia )

This is the time of the year when my tweets tend to shift from museums and miscellaneous to literary (and miscellaneous) as the Frankfurt Book Fair is one of THE literary events that most of my literary friends are either going to or part of. Publishers, authors, agents all seem to flog to Germany for this International event. At the same time, there are a lot of literary festivals this time of the year (such as the brilliant Cheltenham Festivals which those who can’t get to Germany prefer to attend.

I love books. I love reading, I love going to libraries and book stores and searching new books I didn’t know existed. I love the feeling of leaping into a book – becoming a bystander in the scenes that I’m reading. Charlotte and I are fortunate to sometimes receive books from publishers to review which has spurred her love of reading even further. And recently, I even received an acknowledgement in L.A. Weatherly sequel Angel Fire. [Thank you!]

And I must admit, I’m a traditionalist – although I have Kindle and iPad, I prefer to hold a book and feel the pages as they turn. There are a few interesting debates on whether e-readers will eliminate tradition books but most in the industry as agreed it’s not an either or: those with e-reader continue to read/purchase traditional book.

However, it seems regardless of what industry you’re involved in; digital seems to be the forefront topic. According to Publishers Weekly – this years Frankfurt Book Fair main theme will be dealing with e-books and different e-readers and FutreBook.net has this article which talks about discussion on how to handle pricing will be raised. This is a topic I follow closely mainly via @futurebook – why? Because although it’s a different industry from museums, it is essentially the same common goal: How to engage with your audience.

Another common issue seems to be how to convince ‘management’ that investment into social commerce is worthwhile (great article by Matt Bradbeer Social Commerce and Multi-Channel Publishing). While it doesn’t make the job any easier, somehow knowing its cross-sector lessens the sting.

I personally have always felt the publishing industry ‘got’ social media, probably more so then any industry I follow via social media. They provide competition related to books, events, and cake. They discuss topics but they also listen. Perhaps it’s just the companies I follow.

The publishing industry engage with their audience, others in the industries and anyone else that wants to join in. There seems to be a respect between authors, publishers, admin staff and everyone in between Even interns are encouraged to create a social media accounts and get involved. This ‘trusting your employees’ which was mentioned by Jim Richardson at MuseumNext seems to be true.

It’ll be interesting to see how the digital topics pan out in Frankfurt and over the coming weeks. I’m sure this is a debate that is not going to be figured out overnight. On the positive side – at least people are talking about it.

@MarDixon

CultureThemes

CultureThemes.com
Culture Themes is a multinational group of museum professionals. We exist because of our passion for promoting and preserving museums, libraries, galleries, and heritage properties worldwide. There is no gain on the part of anyone in the group.

MuseomixUK

MuseomixUK
Museomix 2014 UK will take place at Derby Silk Mill in Derbyshire, UK 7-11 November. Over three consecutive days, 150 participants will remix the museums, creating & testing new ways to engage visitors.

MuseumCamp

MuseumCamp
An unconference for people interested, working, want to work or who like to visit museums, art galleries and cultural venues. It’s a cakefest.

MuseumNext

MuseumNext
Europe’s’ Major Conference on the Future of Museums. The 2015 edition of MuseumNext will take place in the Swiss city of Geneva between 19 – 21 April 2015. MuseumNext Geneva will serve as a platform to discuss what’s next for all aspects of the museum.

MuseumCamp

MuseumCamp
An unconference for people interested, working, want to work or who like to visit museums, art galleries and cultural venues. It’s a cakefest.

CultureThemes

CultureThemes.com
Culture Themes is a multinational group of museum professionals. We exist because of our passion for promoting and preserving museums, libraries, galleries, and heritage properties worldwide. There is no gain on the part of anyone in the group.

MuseomixUK

MuseomixUK
Museomix 2014 UK will take place at Derby Silk Mill in Derbyshire, UK 7-11 November. Over three consecutive days, 150 participants will remix the museums, creating & testing new ways to engage visitors.

MuseumCamp

MuseumCamp
An unconference for people interested, working, want to work or who like to visit museums, art galleries and cultural venues. It’s a cakefest.

MuseumNext

MuseumNext
Europe’s’ Major Conference on the Future of Museums. The 2015 edition of MuseumNext will take place in the Swiss city of Geneva between 19 – 21 April 2015. MuseumNext Geneva will serve as a platform to discuss what’s next for all aspects of the museum.